


For a Reason

by stellata



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Episode: s03e09 Penelope, F/M, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 15:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2778185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellata/pseuds/stellata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Penelope nearly dies, Derek finally realizes the depth of his feelings for her. Being in love with his best friend is definitely going to complicate things, but just maybe, it'll be worth it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For a Reason

“The bullet went in her chest and ricocheted into her abdomen. She lost a lot of blood. It was touch and go for a while, but we were able to repair the injuries.

“So what are you saying?”

“One centimeter over and it would have torn right through her heart. Instead she could actually walk out of here in a couple days.”

He felt lightheaded at the news - she was going to be alright. Ever since he’d walked out of the church and seen those missed calls, heard that horrible voicemail JJ had left, he’d felt like a ghost. 

If Penelope was gone, what was left in the world?

“She needs her rest. You can see her in the morning.”

No, that would not do. He had to see her _now_.  Hotch’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“David and I will go to the scene. I think the rest of you should be here when she wakes up.”

“Yeah,” Derek said quietly. There was nowhere else he could be. 

As the rest of the team started walking towards the lobby, Derek turned quietly and made his way to her room. 

He froze in the doorway, struck by the sight of her. The woman who was always so full of joy and laughter was lying still and silent on the bed. 

“Sir, you can’t be in here.”

“I have to,” Derek told the nurse, a slim middle-aged woman with red-blonde hair. “Please, I can’t just leave her alone.”

He looked at her pleadingly, and the woman’s eyes softened. 

“Alright, but stay quiet. She needs to wake up naturally, when her body’s ready for it.” 

Derek nodded gratefully and went to sit by Penelope’s side, taking her hand in his. She was warm, thank god - that horrible part of his imagination that pictured her lifeless and cold was quieting every moment he spent here. 

“Hey baby girl,” Derek told her quietly. 

“You must love her a lot,” the nurse said from the other side of the room.

He swallowed hard, riveted to the sight of her chest rising and falling, confirmation that she was alive and she was going to be fine.

“More than anything.”  

It was the first time he’d said it to anyone, including himself, but once he did, he felt a sudden feeling of peace from the realization. She had snuck up on him, and slowly became the brightest and most important part of his life. 

The nurse let herself out, closing the door behind her, and Derek let out a shaky breath.

“Wake up soon, baby. I miss you.”

Now that he was here, and he knew she was going to be okay, his mind started to race. Someone had targeted her, a mugger, most likely. This guy had _shot_ her. 

And he hadn’t been there. Derek had never hated himself more than in that moment. He should have protected her, but he’d failed. She’d almost died. 

He would have to make up for it now.  Whoever did this had to pay. 

 

* * *

 

Derek didn’t sleep all night. Nurses came by every so often to check on the monitor and tick things off on charts, and the red-headed one from earlier even brought him a coffee. 

He watched her as she slept, marveling at how beautiful she was, even after everything. There was nobody as perfect as Penelope, not for him. And now that he knew exactly what she meant to him, he was going to tell her. Whatever happened, he would always be her best friend - if she allowed anything more, he’d love it, but what he needed most was to always be part of her life. 

When her eyes fluttered open, Derek leaned in, reaching out with his left hand to stroke her cheek. 

“There you are, baby girl. Welcome back to the world of the living.”

Penelope blinked at him, and began to smile. 

“Derek, what…” 

He leaned in, trying to convey everything he felt with his eyes, as he stroked down her cheek, making her shiver at the touch. 

“Baby girl, I - ”

“Penelope!” 

Derek jerked back his hand as Emily and Reid and JJ hurried into the room. He silently gritted his teeth as he reluctantly released Penelope’s hand so she could respond in kind to JJ’s warm hug.

“No tears. I’m afraid if I start crying, I’ll become unstable.” Penelope’s voice was so quiet, she sounded like she could shatter any moment. It killed him to hear her like this.

“How are you feeling?” 

“Confused.” She looked right at him. “Stupid. And - in pain.”

Derek swallowed - how could she feel stupid? It wasn’t her fault some bastard decided to mug her.

“Are you up for some questions?” JJ asked gently. 

“I never saw it coming. He seemed - deliciously normal.”

“You know him?” Reid blurted out. 

“You were right,” Penelope murmured, looking back at Derek, resignation and shame in her eyes. “I shouldn’t have trusted it.” 

“What are you talking about?” He asked in confusion. 

“It’s that guy I told you about. The one I met at the coffee shop.”

He sucked in a quick breath - it wasn’t random, she’d been targeted? Who would want to hurt her like this? 

“I wanted to believe he was interested in me,” Penelope continued sadly. 

“Forget that…” 

“I let my guard down,” She cut in, clearly angry with herself. 

“This is not your fault,” Derek said, squeezing her hand. “If anything…I’m to blame.” 

Penelope stared at him in shock.

“I practically goaded you into going out with this guy by pushing you not to,” Derek admitted bitterly. 

He felt overwhelmed with shame. She’d thrown out the guy’s number, but he’d cautioned her against dating this guy, purely out of jealousy - and caused her to change her mind. Penelope had needed to feel wanted so badly that she’d ignored her instincts that said there was something wrong about this guy.

“Sugar, this is not your fault,” she said simply, trying to convince him with her eyes, earnest and pleading. 

“Do you have any idea why he would have done this?” Emily asked. 

“Did he threaten you? Did he want something?” Reid pressed. 

Penelope’s anguish was clear as she tried to stifle a sob.

“I just thought he liked me.” 

Derek felt overwhelmed with anger and shame - she’d been hurting, for who knows how long, feeling unwanted, needing to feel _liked_ and _attractive_. How had he not told her? The way they flirted wasn’t enough, she hadn’t thought he meant it… 

“Okay, um. We’re going to come back in a little while,” JJ said.

“We need a name.” 

“James Colby Bailor.” 

His focus shifted as his heart filled with rage. He had a name, now he just had to find this guy, and hurt him…

Derek lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. Penelope looked up at him in surprise. 

“We’ll find him, baby,” he promised. She smiled at him, and he gently let go of her hand and smiled back, more grimly than he intended. 

“JJ?” Penelope called after them, and the blonde turned back for her friend. 

Derek stalked out of the room, ready to find his man. The rage inside him was building, and he was struck by the urge to hurt something, and hurt it now. 

He smacked the whiteboard in the hall, hard. 

“You need to stay calm.” Reid cautioned, his voice too flat for Derek’s liking. 

“Don’t tell me what to be.” He snarled back. 

“Remember anything she said about him?” Reid asked, clearly trying to distract him. 

He tried to recall something, but nothing was coming to him. 

“No,” Derek shook his head. It was a guy in a coffee shop, seemingly normal until he’d… 

Emily walked back over, focused and intent. 

“I just talked to Hotch. They think this guy used a revolver.”

“Who the hell uses a revolver?” Derek asked incredulously.

“Someone who doesn’t want to leave shell casings behind as evidence,” Reid answered immediately. 

“What about witnesses?” Derek pressed on. 

“None so far,” Emily shook her head, giving him a sympathetic look. “And he staged it to look like a robbery.”

“Which means he’s smart enough to use forensic countermeasures. Odds are the name he gave Garcia is probably bogus.” 

The sound of heels drew their eyes over to JJ, who was exiting Penelope’s room, her arms crossed and a grim expression on her face. 

“What did she say?”

“She made me promise not to talk about her like a victim.”

Derek felt his heart clenching. She would never be just that to him, or any of the team. He chastised himself inwardly - Garcia was strong, stronger than any of them knew. He wouldn’t think of her as a victim, and he certainly wouldn’t call her that.

 

* * *

 

“I asked her to go out last night.” Derek admitted to Reid. “But she was pissed at me - she blew me off.”

He’d deserved it, he thought inwardly. Why go out with someone who is evidently just a _friend_ when you could go on a date? He hadn’t told her, hadn’t made their outings real dates. 

“So you ended up in church?” Reid asked quietly. 

“Yeah.” 

Last night, he’d been full of all these emotions, all these questions. What did he want, how could he deal with Penelope dating when he wanted her to himself, even just as friends? 

“What does it mean?” Derek demanded. “On one hand, if she’d gone out with me, she might never have gotten shot. On the other hand, what are the odds that the first time I pray in twenty years, she’s on the table?” 

He shook his head. 

“And this happening hit me with a bigger revelation than church ever did.”

“Revelation?” Reid asked curiously. 

“I can’t lose her,” he answered quietly. 

“And…?” Reid was smiling like he knew something Derek didn’t. Before he could answer, the nurse was back. 

“She’s asking for you.”

Derek went in to see her, carefully laying his hand on hers. 

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

“Good news, bad news… The morphine’s wearing off. When I was in the ambulance, I could hear the song Heroes playing in my head. I kept flashing in and out of consciousness, and everything was really bright, and I remember thinking _wait_ … Is David Bowie really god?”

He laughed at that, amazed that even in pain, Penelope was still so determined to lighten the mood and make him smile. 

“We have a sketch artist coming in,” Reid informed her. 

“It’s all a little hazy.” Penelope admitted.

“It’s okay. Anything you tell us will help,” Derek told her gently. “Did this guy say what he did for a living?”

“He said he was a lawyer.” 

“Did people know him where you went?”

“He said he wanted to show me a place. It was half an hour away.”

Images of Penelope on a date with this monster, laughing over wine and pasta, cut into his mind. Derek tried not to picture it, her with some other guy. How had he thought going to church would help him get over this feeling, this complete jealousy? 

“You drove together? What kind of car?”

“White, four door, sedan… American. It smelled new.”

“Rental car, maybe?” 

“Maybe? I don’t know, I don’t look at things like you guys do. I don’t see danger.”

“Okay, easy, sweetheart.  What else can you remember?”

“He smelled good… I thought he was just afraid to kiss me goodnight.”

Derek couldn’t stop himself from touching her again, aware of Reid watching as he gently stroked her cheek. Penelope deserved to be kissed all the time, and the moment she was better, he would show her that. 

“Hey,” he said soflty. “Sure you’re up for this?”

She nodded, closing her eyes. 

“I could hear him walking. He leaned over me and I held my breath so he’d think I was dead.” 

He squeezed her hand, hating the picture he had of it in his head. 

“I’m so sorry, baby girl,” he said softly, so Reid couldn’t even hear. 

Penelope smiled at him sadly. 

“You shouldn’t have gone through this,” he continued, frustrated. 

“But I did,” she said warningly. “Let’s just catch this guy, okay?”

“Okay,” Derek agreed, aware his voice was shaking. 

“What about his behavior?” Reid asked. “That’s all profiling really is, noticing behavior.”

She frowned, her face pinching up, and he leaned closer. 

“Sweetheart, any details you can tell us could help, okay?”

“Mmm hmm.” 

“So let’s go back to when you first arrived in that restaurant…”

Derek listened as she described the restaurant, the meal, and her date.  The more he heard about this guy, the more he hated him. 

Slowly, they began to put together a good picture. He hated leaving her, but he had to return to the BAU to meet the team. 

“I’ll be fine,” Penelope assured him. 

“You’d better be, baby girl,” Derek smiled at her, and finally tore himself away from her side. 

 

* * *

 

“We found an encrypted file on your computer. Are you involved in something I need to know about?”

The quiet accusation in their boss’ voice had Derek on edge immediately.

“No.” Penelope said, her voice small and nervous. 

“Hotch, what’s going on?” Derek asked, warningly. 

“Could this be connected in any way to whoever shot you?” Hotch continued.

“I don’t think so.”

“I need the password.” 

“Is this really necessary?” Derek asked, looking between them. 

“Yes,” Hotch said simply. “The password.”

“Gilmond street.” Penelope said softly. 

“They don’t honestly think Garcia’s a security risk, do they?” Reid demanded, voicing what Derek was thinking. 

“I don’t know. We’ve been ordered by internal affairs to stop working the case.”

“What?” Derek demanded.

“And, until this is cleared up, you’ve been suspended. I’m sorry.”

Derek couldn’t believe his ears. He looked between his boss and his girl, and was stuck on the look of loss evident all over Penelope’s features.

“Right.” 

He took a deep breath, ready to assure her, when she dropped his hand and began to tug at her IV.

“What are you doing?”

“I need to get out of here,” Penelope said in a panic. 

“Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa - baby.”  He caught her hands, trying to stop her from hurting herself. “We’re going to get this straightened out. I’m going to find out who did this to you.” 

He held a finger up as she tried to speak.

“I don’t give a damn what IA wants me to do or doesn’t want me to do, but right now you need to rest.”

“But - one of the last things I said before he shot me is everything happens for a reason. Derek, if I lose faith in that, then nothing in my life makes sense.”

“I get that…”

“No, you don’t.” Her eyes were so soft and beautiful, and he sighed, knowing he was helpless to that look. 

“Okay, baby girl. Let’s get you out of here.”

 

* * *

 

Everything about the apartment complex screamed _wrong_ to him. 

Penelope had almost bled out on the steps, the stains were still there. It was a horrible reminder to him of what had happened, what he’d failed to prevent - and it must be even worse for her, he realized. 

“Come on,” Derek urged, one arm wrapping around her as he tried to lead her away from where her own blood had stained the stairs. “It washes off, I promise.”  

Penelope led him upstairs and to her apartment. As he stepped inside, a peal of wild laughter escaped him. 

The whole place screamed _Penelope Garcia_. Bright colors everywhere, flowers and striped plates, decorations and paintings everywhere. 

“I, um - I would expect nothing less,” he explained his laughter to her. 

“You should be flattered. Not many people are invited in off the grid.”

He grinned at her before looking around again. There was a projector on the table that he recognized. 

“Super eight?”

“Yeah,” she said, and went over to turn it on. 

It was an old home video. Penelope was just a child, grinning as she read a book with her father. She was adorable, and he grinned again. 

“I always imagined myself fighting crime,” Penelope said softly. “My parents were hippies. I think it horrified them.”

“How old were you when you lost them?”

“Eighteen. Drunk driver.”

He nodded, not bothering with useless words. He knew first hand that it was never enough. 

Derek continued to walk around, and paused as he found a stack of papers - her appointment schedule, at the Hope Community Center, for Counseling for Families of Victims.

“I volunteer once a week. I counsel family members of murder victims.” 

“Baby, you don’t get enough of this stuff at work?” 

“I look at those crime scene photos all day long. I can’t know that those families are out there trying to cope and not do something to help.”

Of course - she had the biggest heart he knew. Just knowing everything she did, trying to help everyone, made him want to hold her, tell her just how perfect she was. 

“You do know it was stupid to encrypt that file?”  He walked over to her. 

“Yes.” Penelope shrugged. “I know. Old habits, I guess.”

“You need some rest.” He nodded towards her bedroom. 

“You’re right.” She reached up, putting her left arm over his shoulder and coming in to hug him. He breathed in her smell, hugging her back as gently as he could. 

“Go. Be free, my love.”

What he would give for her to be saying that and truly meaning it…

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere,” Derek assured her. 

“I’ll be fine! I’ve got my goon squad parked out front,” Penelope reminded him. 

“Goon squad or no goon squad, that couch right there is going to be my best friend until we find this guy, now leave it alone.”

“Okay.” Her smile was so cute, he barely held onto the willpower to let her walk by him unscathed. 

Then she paused in the doorway and turned back to him, grinning.

“But if you’re thinking of trying to trying to take advantage of me, let me call my doctor so he can revive me afterward.”

He laughed, incredibly pleased. That was his Garcia. 

“Hey, silly girl.”

“Mm?”

“I love you, you know that, right?” It just came out, and he watched her carefully, hardly daring to hope. 

Penelope beamed back at him, blinking a little too much to be normal. Was she tearing up?

“I love you too.” 

Derek moved forward, amazed by the words. She was frozen in place as he moved towards her purposefully. 

“That’s my girl,” he whispered, gaining on her, and she just watched, not entirely sure what was about to happen - 

Derek stopped right in front of her, and cupped her face in his hands. He turned her face up and firmly pressed their lips together. 

Penelope gasped in surprise, her hands clutching at his sides as they kissed. Her lips tingled where they touched, and then he shifted, one hand moving to grasp the back of her head, the other wrapping about her waist, and his tongue flicked into her mouth, and she felt like melting into him and never leaving. 

She kissed back, with all the energy and enthusiasm he’d always imagined she would have. He couldn’t get enough of her - her soft, plump lips, perfect little tongue, and the way she tasted… 

Penelope pulled back, and he groaned, missing her already. 

“Derek,” she gasped. “Do you - do you mean it…” 

“I love you, baby girl,” he whispered, staring into her eyes. “I mean it. I need you to be mine.” 

She shuddered deliciously, and he swept in, kissing her deeply. She was writhing in his arms, wiggling against him, arousing him further, just when he thought he couldn’t want her any more than he already did. 

Penelope was in heaven. She’d wanted this for so long, and finally, she was kissing Derek Morgan…

“I can’t believe I waited four years to do this,” Derek groaned. 

“Me neither,” Penelope moaned. She pressed her lips to his, slipping her tongue to brush against his, going deep and intense. He was a good kisser, but she was too, and she wanted to blow his mind. 

When Derek was the next to pull away, panting, she smirked at him devilishly. 

“Woman, you are amazing,” he gasped, sounding positively wrecked. 

“You too, sugar.” She loved that she had reduced him to this, made Derek Morgan breathless.

“I want you so much, baby girl,” Derek continued, holding her back as she attempted to move in and kiss him again. “But you need to go to bed.” 

 

“Come with me,” Penelope said with a playful pout.

“Penny, sweetheart, I would like nothing more.” Derek said huskily, his hands rubbing at her shoulders gently. “But first I have to catch this guy. And you have to heal.” 

Penelope winced, suddenly reminded of her wound - and felt the wash of pain that the kiss had temporarily distracted her from. Derek gave her a knowing look, and she sighed, knowing that he had her there.

“But don’t doubt that the moment you’re ready,” Derek continued, stroking down her arms to take her hands in his. “I _will_ have you.”

Penelope shivered under his touch, her panties soaking even more at the thought. 

“I love you,” she told him again, beaming. 

“I love you more,” Derek chuckled, and kissed her one final time, keeping it short and sweet. “Get to bed, you.”

“Yes, Agent Morgan,” she giggled, flouncing off to bed. 

He shook his head, watching her go. She was going to be the death of him. 

 

* * *

 

The sound of a gunshot tore him from his doze.

“Garcia!” Derek shouted as he grabbed his gun. 

“What’s going on?”

“Stay right there, stay there!” Derek insisted. He peeked out the window, and pushed her into the corner. 

“Get in the corner… I want you to listen to me. Take this gun.”

“I don’t believe in guns!” Penelope insisted.

“Trust me, they are very real, _take_ it.” He handed it over.

“Alright, you keep your finger off that trigger. If somebody walks through that door, you grab a hold of it and you squeeze.” 

She nodded, her eyes filled with terror. 

He hated having to leave her, but he had to protect her. 

“Fire, you hear me?”

Derek left the apartment, pausing at the stairs. The unsub was there, and he engaged. 

He shot to kill, but didn’t manage to hit. He chased the shooter down the stairs and outside - and the guy got away. 

Derek was furious that he hadn’t gotten him - but also relieved that at least for now, Penelope was safe. 

He called dispatch for an ambulance for the wounded officer, and hurried back upstairs to check on his girl. 

The moment he got in, something felt wrong. She wasn’t where he’d told her to be. _How did he get her_? Rage and terror flowed through him. 

He heard something in the kitchen, and turned, ready to shoot - only to see his girl, terrified and pointing a gun at him.

“Garcia! It’s me! Don’t shoot! It’s me! It’s Morgan, baby.” 

With shaky hands, she lowered the gun. He hurried over to her, embracing her tightly. He’d almost lost her _again_. 

“Why is this happening to me?” Penelope sobbed into his shirt. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” He pressed a kiss to her hair, swearing to himself that he’d find a way to get him. 

Nobody got to hurt his girl, or scare her like this. 

 

* * *

 

“You shouldn’t still be here, we should get you somewhere safe,” JJ said worriedly. 

“I feel safe with all of you,” Penelope answered immediately, her eyes going to Derek. 

 _Stay with me_ , he thought, the words on his lips - 

“We could take you to the BAU,” Hotch said first, and Derek cursed inwardly. He wanted to take care of her himself. 

But he hadn’t done a good enough job, Derek reminded himself angrily. She would be safer at the BAU. 

When Penelope looked to him for confirmation, he nodded in agreement, and she relaxed a little more. 

“When we were at dinner… They wanted to seat us by a window, by he insisted on sitting at the worst table in the place. And he sat with his back to the corner.” Penelope remembered. 

“Tell us about the car,” Reid pressed. 

She remembered something else then - that the shooter buckled the seat behind him. 

“It wasn’t a rental - it was for surveillance,” Derek said what they were all thinking. 

“Agents need to get out in a hurry.”

“Alright, let’s cut the crap.”

They all looked to Rossi in confusion as he got up and sat down in front of Penelope. 

“You need to be straight with us, right now.”

“What,” Penelope began, confused. 

“Look at me, not them,” he said harshly.  

“I’m not hiding anything.”

“You got shot. Most people got shot for a reason.”

Derek felt his fists clenching. 

“This is _not_ her fault,” he growled at Rossi, pushing off his seat to stand between the senior agent and Penelope. “Don’t you _dare_ talk to her like that.”

“Morgan,” Hotch warned, but Derek just stared down Penelope’s accuser. 

“What are you saying, Rossi, that she deserved this?” Derek spat. “Because I can’t think of a person who deserved this _less_ than Penelope.”

Rossi looked at him in surprise, then slowly raised his hands.

“That’s not what I’m saying. But if we really think there’s an FBI agent after you, then we need to know about everything you do on company time that we don’t know about.”

Derek sat down again, one hand resting on Penelope’s arm, eyeing Rossi warily. 

“What?” Rossi said again, too harshly.

“Ease up,” Derek ordered him. 

“It’s nothing bad!” Penelope cried, silencing them all quite effectively. “I counsel victims’ families, and they know where I work, so sometimes they ask me to look into cases for them.”

“What does that mean?” Rossi asked. 

“It just means the cases, the unsolved ones, I tag them so whoever’s investigating knows that the FBI considers them a priority.”

Penelope glanced over at Derek, scared - would he be mad. Instead, he just looked confused. 

“You’re not authorized to do that,” Hotch declared. 

“I know,” Penelope said pleadingly. “I was just trying to help…”

“But whoever’s working those cases thinks you’re watching them,” Emily pointed out. 

“I just wanted to put up the pressure on them so they don’t slide…” 

“How many cases are we talking about?” 

“I don’t know - seven, eight maybe?”

“Wait a minute.” Derek finally spoke up. “On your date, you said this guy was pressing you to find out if you were working murder cases. Hotch, we’ve gotta look at those files.”

Hotch took Rossi and JJ with him to the BAU, leaving Derek with Penelope, as well as Reid and Emily.

“Make sure she doesn’t have access,” Hotch said as he left.

“Understood,” Derek replied, but he saw Penelope’s face fall, and gently squeezed her hand, trying to soothe her hurt. 

 

* * *

 

_Jason Clark Battle._

“Is that him?”

The look of fear and desolation on Penelope’s face just killed him. If Emily and Reid weren’t here, he’d be wrapping her up in his arms. 

“I think we may have stumbled upon an Angel of Death,” Derek realized. 

As the others discussed it, Derek put the pieces together. 

“Garcia, you flagged these cases. He thought you were onto him.” 

 

Battle was in the BAU, and the idea that an unsub, the man who’d nearly killed his girl, was invading their home, angered him. But most of all, Derek was relieved that this time, Penelope wasn’t there. 

Someone else would have to take care of Battle. It ended up being JJ. 

 

“Is this really over?”

“Yeah, it’s really over. Now can we please get you back to the hospital?” Derek asked chidingly, though he was smiling at her. 

“I don’t want to,” Penelope sighed. “But I don’t think I want to go back to my apartment either.” 

“Easy. You’ll stay with me for awhile,” Derek announced before he could change his mind. 

Her face just lit up, and he wanted to kiss her. 

“I’d like that,” Penelope told him, smiling brilliantly.  

She looked across the room, at the IA agent who’d had her suspended, and her face began to fall again. 

“Oh, don’t worry about your reinstatement papers,” Emily smirked. “He’ll sign them as soon as his hand stops shaking.”

“She’s right,” Derek chuckled. “Ready to go, baby girl? Time for a little time off with pay at Chez Morgan.”

“Just a minute, sweetcheeks,” Penelope assured him, smiling. He nodded and headed over to talk to Hotch, and Penelope went to find JJ. 

“Hey.” Penelope said softly.

“Hey.” JJ replied, her face a little too blank for her friend’s comfort. 

“I never wanted you to have to do something like that,” Penelope told her honestly.

“I didn’t even blink,” JJ returned truthfully. “You do whatever it takes to protect your family.”

Penelope embraced her, holding her tightly, trying to convey all her thanks with it. 

When they pulled back, JJ gave her a mischevious smile. 

“I think someone’s watching you.”

Penelope turned in surprise, expecting to see Morgan. Instead, it was a reasonably cute IT guy. 

“Hey, you,” she said, approaching him with a smile. “You’re good.”

“You’re better.” 

The sheer awe in his eyes was gratifying, and under other circumstances, his utter enchantment with her would be more than flattering. 

“Thank you for everything, Mr. Lynch,” Penelope said formally as she shook his hand. “Maybe we’ll work together again someday.”

“I hope so,” Kevin grinned at her. 

The tech held her hand a little too long, and Penelope had to pull it back. She nodded to him and walked away. 

It was still flattering, feeling Lynch watching her as she walked away, but Penelope Garcia only had eyes for one man.

Derek smiled at her openly as she walked up to him and slipped her arm into his. 

“Lead on, chauffeur,” she said haughtily, and he chuckled. 

They walked out of the BAU arm in arm. 

 

* * *

 

The house he took her to wasn’t completely finished, or even completely furnished. But somehow, it felt like home. 

“This is just where I’m crashing currently,” Derek assured her. “I have my stuff all over my different properties. When I finish remodeling one place, I sell it and move into the next.”

“It’s a nice house, if a bit empty,” Penelope laughed.  Really, she was here for him, not the house, so it didn’t bother her. 

As he closed the door, she turned and pinned him to it, kissing him fiercely.

“What was that for?” Derek murmured afterwards, grinning at her. 

“Because I wanted to,” Penelope giggled, running her hands down his chest. 

“Not yet, baby girl,” he groaned, pulling her hands away. “How about I order some Chinese and we watch a movie?”

“I suppose I could be down with that,” she allowed. 

 

The chinese food was mediocre, the movie passable - but still it felt better than anything she’d done in ages. 

She was curled into Derek’s lap, only half-watching the movie as he was quite distracting, playing with her hair, rubbing her shoulders… 

“I can’t believe I’m here.”

“Neither can I,” Derek admitted. “Baby girl, this is everything I didn’t know I wanted.”

Penelope rolled in his lap, looking at him carefully. 

“You only knew after I was shot?”

Derek sighed.

“I’m an idiot, I know,” Derek laughed, though it sounded a little painful. 

“Then everything happens for a reason,” Penelope said softly, her beliefs feeling solid again. 

Derek looked like he wanted to protest that belief, but she stopped his mouth with a kiss. It grew with passion instantly, only stopping when Penelope twisted her body a little too much and flinched at the sudden pain. 

“Baby girl, you okay?”

“Uh huh,” she promised, but he was already helping her sit up. 

“You have no idea how hard it is to keep my hands off you,” Derek groaned, staring at her intensely. 

“Trust me, I know the feeling,” Penelope moaned, running a hand down his thigh. 

He hissed at the sensation, quickly grabbing her hand and returning it to her lap. 

“Patience, baby girl, patience. We have all the time in the world.”

It wasn’t completely true. With Derek’s job, anything could happen - and this time, Penelope had been the one to almost die. 

But it had happened for a reason - to bring them together, Penelope thought decisively. They were definitely entitled to some time to figure everything out. 

Penelope smiled and leaned in to peck his cheek. 

“That we do,” she agreed. 


End file.
